


Those Three Words

by corgasbord



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair, Drabble, Fluff, M/M, Trans Character, this counts as a drabble right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 07:03:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10508733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corgasbord/pseuds/corgasbord
Summary: In which Kaito tells Shuuichi that he loves him for the first time, and for a hot second, Shuuichi is actually surprised.





	

**Author's Note:**

> i've been trying to keep myself writing actively, so here, have a cheesy little drabble i whipped up for lack of time. i guess it could be considered a sequel of sorts to Hit or Miss, but that didn't occur to me until after i was done writing it, so interpret it however you please.
> 
> ([tumblr](http://corgiboard.tumblr.com/post/159038165145/those-three-words) link)

“Hey, you know that I love you, right?”

Shuuichi goes rigid, turning his head to stare at Kaito with wide eyes. A weak, dumbstruck “Huh?” is all that he can manage, because his head is too busy trying to wrap itself around his boyfriend’s words. _Did he really just say that he-_

“I said that I love you,” Kaito repeats, grinning in spite of the hint of pink dusting his cheeks. Then he lifts the arm not loosely wrapped around Shuuichi’s shoulders to ruffle his hair, fondly teasing, “Hey, try pulling your head out of the clouds for once, wouldja? You know that’s my domain, anyway.”

Shuuichi can’t even bring himself to be that miffed at the gesture, still too stunned for a coherent response. The statement came completely out of nowhere, after all. He and Kaito are sprawled out under the darkened sky as they are nearly every night, and Kaito had been talking about something completely different, but now Shuuichi can’t remember what. It undoubtedly had something to do with the very stars reflected in Kaito’s eyes, knowing him.

Not that it matters now, because Shuuichi would rather focus on untangling his tongue to say _something_.

Kaito tilts his head, noticing the flush filling Shuuichi’s face. “Somethin’ the matter?”

Shuuichi clears his throat, trying to keep his voice from cracking as he finally responds, “No! You just… that surprised me.”

“Really? What’s there to be surprised about?” Kaito asks.

“Well, I mean… it sort of came out of nowhere,” Shuuichi says. There’s also the fact that the weight of the words themselves has him reeling a bit, but he decides he doesn’t need to mention that.

“So?” Kaito’s arm tightens around Shuuichi’s shoulders slightly, and he fixes his gaze back on the sky. “I just felt like you needed to know, is all.”

Shuuichi is quiet for a few long moments, face warm and chest fluttering. Then, he follows Kaito’s line of sight upwards, mostly to avoid looking at him directly when he delivers his hushed reply. “I… I love you, too.”

“What was that?” Kaito asks, looking at Shuuichi again with his eyebrows raised.

Shuuichi peeks out of the corner of his eye long enough to catch the smile playing upon Kaito’s lips, and starts to think that Kaito _did_ hear him and is just being an ass.

Despite the likelihood of the latter being true, however, he clears his throat and says it again, louder this time. “I love you.” The context makes the words feel foreign on his tongue, but not in a bad way. They're new, yet they feel real, feel _right_ in spite of how bashfully he speaks them.

Then Kaito is grinning at him and turning enough to wrap both arms around him, pulling Shuuichi’s thin frame against his chest for one of his signature bear hugs. Shuuichi grunts, startled by the action, but finds no reason to protest, so he awkwardly attempts to return it after a few seconds even though his arms are pinned to his sides.

“I know,” Kaito replies, giddy. “I love you more, though.” To emphasize his point, he squeezes Shuuichi even tighter, drawing a mildly discomforted wheeze from the smaller boy.

“It’s not a competition,” Shuuichi puffs, but he can’t suppress the grin forming on his face because that’s so ridiculous but it’s so _Kaito_.

Then, realizing that breathing is becoming difficult for reasons unrelated to how long he’s been wearing his binder, he squirms a bit and taps feebly at Kaito’s side. “Er, too tight.” 

“Ah. Oops.” Kaito’s grip on him immediately loosens, if only a little. For the time being, he seems content to just hold Shuuichi there, the side of his face pressed into his dark hair.

That’s how Shuuichi knows that Kaito couldn’t possibly be overstating the way he feels - Kaito, who is ordinarily content to spend hours at a time dedicating his full attention to the sky, is happy to break from it entirely in order to grant Shuuichi that attention instead.

Therefore, it’s only right for Shuuichi to do the same. Still smiling, he settles his head on Kaito’s shoulder and mumbles another “I love you,” just because he likes the way it sounds.

**Author's Note:**

> i've noticed a trend...... nearly all of my saimota fics so far have been set up under the premise of stargazing. oops


End file.
